Andrew Palmer

Palmer 1

Mrs.Martin
Cp English ll
Period 4
16 april , 2015

Oedipus Rex A tragic Hero

A tragic hero is a man of high status who makes a mistake which ultimately leads to his
downfall. A story that uses a tragic hero is Oedipus Rex Written by sophocles and translated by
Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he became a hero for thebes
but killed the king his father and had incest intercorse with his mother leading to his downfall. To
this day there are still tragic heros alive.

For solving the unsolvable riddle of the Sphinx Oedipus was given the title of hero for
Thebes. A quote that shows oedipus solving the Sphinxs riddle is you saved us from the sphinx
(Sophocles line 39). This heroic act changed oedipus stats to a god/hero because no normal man
can solve the sphinxs riddle. His change in status shifted the opinions of the opinions of the
people to accepting him and trusting him with their lives to save them again if the problem
arises. Although oedipus had the trust of the people he has many mistakes in his past and his
future that will over time change the course of his life and cause his downfall.

Palmer 2

Oedipus Tragic flaw was how he killed his father. A quote that shows oedipus has killed
his father is Teiresias saying I say that you are the murderer (Sophocles Line 345). This quote
shows Oedipus being caught for killing his own father. this quote also shows how oedipus did
not know his parents which lead him to marring his mother and having intercorse with her also
leading to his downfall.

A tragic hero today is Magic Jhonson. His tragic flaw was he worked so hard to gain his
status and money to do anything he wanted but, had intercorse and got aids which is his tragic
flaw. His downfall relates with other tragic heros because they have the say way of working so
hard to achieve their high stats but losing it all to a mistake. Magic Jhonson in the end spend
many years to build a happy life when he retired but lost it to his sexual urges.

This shows how even to this day there are still tragic heros. Oedipus was given the title of
hero for solving the Sphinxs riddle. Oedipus is a tragic hero for helping the citizens to become a
hero but had a downfall caused by killing their king also his father. Magic Jhonson is a tragic
hero for spending many years to have a enjoyable future but lost it to his sexual urges. In the
future do you think you can be a hero or will you also have a flaw and become a tragic hero.